Keith Schembri Links To Yorgen Fenech Case Explored: From Recordings To Handwritten Notes

Keith Schembri, the former Prime Minister’s chief of staff, and his mentions in the police’s investigation into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, were laid bare before jurors today by Assistant Commissioner Keith Arnaud on the fourth day of the trial against Yorgen Fenech.

“Theuma told me that he only knew one mastermind (mandant), Yorgen Fenech,” Arnaud explained to the court.

Arnaud’s testimony continued from yesterday. Today, he focused on police conversations with Melvin Theuma and Yorgen Fenech after their respective arrests. Theuma, Arnaud said, was in an extreme state of panic after March 2018, when Vince Muscat, one of the convicted hitmen, began speaking to police.

He added that Theuma said he was convinced Fenech would try to eliminate him, given that he was the only person the Degiorgios could positively identify as being involved in the murder. Theuma told investigators that he knew Fenech was a good friend of Schembri (something both have confirmed) – and that the pair would either try to frame him or have him killed. This is why, Arnaud said, Theuma began secretly recording Yorgen Fenech.

Those recordings, Arnaud said, contained several references to Schembri. However, there is not a single mention of Schembri’s involvement in ordering or commissioning the murder.

“In one recording, Fenech tells Theuma: When I told Keith [about it], he froze,” Arnaud told jurors.

Police searches of Fenech’s Portomaso office uncovered a crucial piece of evidence: a letter written by Melvin Theuma, which named himself as the middleman, and also Fenech and Schembri as being behind the murder. The letter was read out in full in court. Theuma said he named Schembri in the letter only to ensure significant protection in the event that something happened to him.

Theuma told police that he had no evidence of Schembri’s involvement in ordering the murder, and that they had only met twice: once at Fenech’s house and another when he received a phantom government job. He was only aware of Schembri’s involvement in efforts to secure bail for the Degiorgio brothers, as communicated by then-OPM official Kenneth Camilleri.  

Though, per Kenneth’s own account, the murder was never mentioned, and he assumed Theuma’s problem was political. Arnaud said Camilleri told them he had mentioned the brothers’ bail to ease Theuma’s concerns. However, Theuma still informed the brothers of the fact, which led to an ever-increasing amount of money being exchanged.

With bail never materialising, Mario Degiorgio pressed Theuma relentlessly for money. Theuma said this ranged from  €2,000–€3,000 a week, rising to sums of €10,000, €15,000 and €50,000 to cover legal fees – the receipts of which were shown to jurors yesterday.

Each time, Theuma went to Fenech for the money to pass to Mario. Sometimes Johann Cremona, a business partner of Fenech who rented a garage from Theuma, fronted the money for the brothers when Theuma called him under pressure from Mario.

Fenech claimed to investigators that Schembri also passed on money roughly €80,000 but there was no other evidence.

Theuma’s interactions with Camilleri and Cremona were also laid bare to jurors. The two men, and Theuma’s friend Edgar Brincat, sought to “calm” Theuma down in the period between March 2018 and his arrest in November 2019.

Fenech spoke to police on numerous occasions between his arrest on 20th November and eventual charge on 30th November. During that period, the police used police bail to stop and restart the 48-hour clock, with officers stationed at Fenech’s home by agreement.

Arnaud revealed that Police had no plan to arrest Fenech on 20th November. By that stage,  they had interviewed Theuma only once, briefly. That changed when investigators received information that Fenech was preparing to leave the island by boat. Arnaud was not involved in the physical arrest, and other witnesses will cover it.

The previous day, Arnaud said, the media had begun reporting on the apprehension of the middleman and the potential presidential pardon. Arnaud said that devices show that Fenech told the captain that the voyage would be held between the two of them and to take no crew; other data showed that the plan was to go to Italy and then drive to France and hopefully escape. The chats will be shown to jurors later in the trial.

On 23rd November, Fenech asked to see his doctor, Adrian Vella. The doctor referred him to Mater Dei, where at 2:50 he was certified unfit for questioning because of medication received, forcing a further police bail and postponement to 4 pm the next day.

On 25th November, Fenech gave a third statement lasting just under an hour. Fenech’s lawyer, Gianluca Caruana Curran, also handed the police a five-page document. The notes, previously published, were allegedly passed from Schembri to Fenech via Vella, who turned out to be Schembri’s doctor too. After that session, Arnaud said, “we needed to take action against Keith Schembri and Adrian Vella”.

The trigger for arresting Schembri was a single Signal screenshot: Schembri’s one-word “Le” (“No”) to Fenech on the night before the escape attempt, answering whether Fenech would be arrested, found among 150,000+ folders on Fenech’s phone.

Vella confirmed collecting a packet of papers from Schembri in Mellieħa on Sunday 24th November after a call from Fenech and then delivering to Fenech at Portomaso, insisting he never saw the comments. DNA and fingerprint tests found nothing of Schembri’s on the documents

Concurrently, the police were talking to Theuma across six sessions, investigating and corroborating everything he said, either in person, in recordings, in letters, or in conversations with confidantes.

The weekend before (c. 15–17 Nov), at Vella’s Gozo farmhouse, Fenech’s brother was allegedly floating escape ideas; Fenech alleged it was *Schembri* who wanted him to flee that weekend, while Schembri claims his night-before contact was to stop Fenech leaving because it “would look bad for the government.”

Arnaud reiterated that there were significant investigations into both the phantom job and leaks from the police investigation. Keith Schembri has been charged with leaking official state secrets and perjury over the leaks. He was acquitted in the phantom job case after Theuma refused to testify. It is currently subject to appeal.